Update: 2 Bow Children Died, Police Officer Injured In Concord I-89 Crash

CONCORD, NH — Two children from Bow were killed and an adult injured during a crash on Interstate 89 in Concord on Friday.

Nicholas Ouellette and Gavin Ouellette both died during the accident, according to Bow School Superintendent Dean Cascadden. Tom Ouellette, the SAU 67 school resource officer, was taken to the hospital, he said. Nicholas Ouellette was an 11th grader at Bow High School while Gavin Ouellette was a first grader at the elementary school.

“We have begun to process this event with staff and some of our older students,” Cascadden said in an alert to parents and students. “The high school implemented a secure campus to notify students and allow them to gather in groups for support and processing.”

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Cascadden said all co-curricular activities were canceled for the day so that students could be with parents and guardians during this difficult time. While there is no official program, the football field will be open from 4 to 7 p.m., he said, so members of the community could gather and mourn.

According to Concord fire dispatch, firefighters and EMTs were sent to the area of the Exit 2 south onramp for a report of a multi-vehicle accident with entrapment around 8:30 a.m. When they arrived, they found an SUV had crashed into the back of a tractor-trailer truck.

New Hampshire State Police said Tom Ouellette was driving a 2017 Ford Expedition when he drifted, for an unknown reason, from the right hand lane into the breakdown lane. In the breakdown lane was a disabled tractor-trailer truck with an enclosed box trailer. The SUV then collided with the rear of the trailer and sustained extensive damage, according to Sgt. Greg Dude of Troop D.

Tom Ouellette has been a police officer in the state for around 17 years. He was hired earlier this year by the department, according to information published on the town’s website.

“This is a tragedy that affects our whole SAU and we will come together as a community that cares for each other to help the Ouellette family,” Cascadden said, “who have students in each of our Bow schools and all of our community members through this very difficult time.”

The New Hampshire State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction (C.A.R.) Unit were called and investigated the crash. The highway was closed for around five hours. State police were assisted by Bow and Concord firefighters and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.

All aspects of this crash remain under investigation, Dube said. Anyone with any info is asked to contact Trooper First Class Nathaniel Goodwin at 603-846-3333 or email at Nathaniel.D.Goodwin@dos.nh.gov.

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